Men's college basketball on television

Men's college basketball on television includes the broadcasting of college basketball games, as well as pre- and post-game reports, analysis, and human-interest stories. Within the United States, the college version of basketball annually garners high television ratings.

Televising the games allows alumni to follow their alma mater's team, as well as competing schools and top-ranked schools nationally. Not all games are televised. Coverage is dependent on negotiations between the broadcaster and the college basketball conference or team. In general, major programs will be televised more often than smaller programs. The televised games may change from year-to-year depending on which teams are having a strong season, although some traditional rivalry games are broadcast each year. Major match-ups between top-ranked teams or major rivals are often broadcast nationally. Some games are traditionally associated with a specific event or holiday, and viewing the game itself can become a holiday tradition for fans.

History

College basketball was first televised during the "experimental" era of television's broadcasting history, when W2XBS broadcast a men's basketball doubleheader from Madison Square Garden in New York City on February 28, 1940. Fordham University and the University of Pittsburgh played in the first game, and New York University played Georgetown University in the second game.[1][2][3]

In 1968, the "Game of the Century", played between UCLA and Houston, was syndicated by the TVS Television Network, attracting a significant television audience. The game is widely cited as a catalyst for the explosion and expansion of the televised college basketball landscape.

Broadcast rights

Networks

In addition, some regional syndicators broadcast games on over the air television. Most notably, Raycom Sports and ESPN Plus syndicate their games to broadcast stations.

Raycom in the early 1990s paid ABC $1.8 million for six weeks of network airtime of 26 regional games. The format allowed Raycom to control the games and sell the advertising.[4]

Cable stations

Regional cable networks have long devoted coverage to one or two conferences. The Pac-12 and Big 12 have had deals with Fox Sports since 1996, which airs games on its regional family of networks.

In 2007, the Big Ten conference was the first to establish its own television network, the Big Ten Network. The Pac-12 Networks debuted in 2012.

The Big Ten has a similar regional network, with the Big Ten Network having made its debut in August 2007. Texas has their own deal which created the Longhorn Network in fall of 2011. While BYU has BYUtv, it is not a separate deal that created a regional sports network.

ESPN

ESPN has been airing regular season games since 1980, ESPN2 since 1993, ESPNU since 2005, and to a lesser extent ESPN Classic will show fewer games per season.

College basketball has been a staple for nearly the whole history of ESPN. Scotty Connal, then-vice president of the all-sports network in Bristol, Conn., offered Dick Vitale a position, shortly after being fired from the Detroit Pistons. The coverage of college basketball and the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament increased both college basketball and ESPN's credibility.[5]

Current lineup

By home team

Postseason

NCAA Tournament

In 1974, Brent Musburger started using the term March Madness when describing the tournament.[6]

In 1991, CBS received exclusive rights to the entire tournament for the first time. Previously, ESPN had aired early round games. Beginning in 2011, CBS shared the early tournament rounds with TBS, TNT, and TruTV. The Final Four will alternate between CBS and TBS starting in 2016.[7]

NIT

The ESPN family of networks currently air the NIT games.

CBI

AXS TV carries select games from the CBI.

CiT

Fox College Sports provides all games from the CiT on the FCS Broadband service, except for the championship which is shown live on FCS Pacific.

Announcers

  1. Jim Nantz/Bill Raftery and Grant Hill/Tracy Wolfson
  2. Marv Albert or Brian Anderson/Chris Webber and Len Elmore/Lewis Johnson
  3. Verne Lundquist/Jim Spanarkel/Allie LaForce
  4. Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller and Dan Bonner/Rachel Nichols
  5. Ian Eagle/Doug Gottlieb/Evan Washburn
  6. Brian Anderson/Steve Smith/Dana Jacobson
  7. Spero Dedes/Mike Gminski/Jaime Maggio
  8. Andrew Catalon/Steve Lappas/Jamie Erdahl
  1. Dan Shulman or Dave O'Brien or Dave Pasch /Jay Bilas or Doris Burke or Fran Fraschilla/Shannon Spake or Holly Rowe (Saturday Primetime)
  2. Sean McDonough or Mike Patrick/Shane Battier or Tim Welsh/Allison Williams (ACC Monday)
  3. Brent Musburger/Fran Fraschilla/Holly Rowe (Big 12 Monday)
  4. Mike Tirico/Dan Dakich/Samantha Ponder or Kaylee Hartung or Quint Kessenich (Big Ten Tuesday)
  5. Brad Nessler or Joe Tessitore/Sean Farnham or Kara Lawson/Shannon Spake (SEC Tuesday)
  6. Dave Flemming or Roxy Bernstein/Miles Simon (Big 12 Tuesday)
  7. Bob Wischusen/LaPhonso Ellis or Sean Farnham (ACC Wednesday)
  8. Dave Pasch or Dave Flemming/Bill Walton (Pac-12 Wednesday and Thursday)
  9. Joe Tessitore or Rich Hollenberg or Adam Amin/Sean Farnham (SEC Thursday)
  10. Mike Patrick or Dave O'Brien or Doug Sherman/Len Elmore or Bob Knight or Doris Burke (AAC Thursday)
  11. Bob Wischusen/Dan Dakich (Big Ten Saturday)
  12. Dave Flemming or Clay Matvick/Fran Fraschilla or Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson (Big 12 Saturday)
  13. Dave O'Brien/Doris Burke (ACC Saturday)
  14. Mark Jones/Kara Lawson or Sean Farnham or Len Elmore (SEC Saturday)
  15. Mike Patrick/Len Elmore or Doris Burke (AAC Saturday)
  16. Beth Mowins/Jim Calhoun or Stan Heath (WCC Saturday)
  17. Rich Hollenberg/Mark Adams and Fran Fraschilla or Seth Greenberg (MVC Saturday)
  18. Rece Davis or Rich Hollenberg/various (Big Ten Thursday)
  19. Bob Picozzi/Jon Crispin (Atlantic 10 Saturday)
  20. Kanoa Leahey/Stan Heath (MWC Saturday)
  1. Tom Hart/Len Elmore (Tuesday ACC)
  2. Rich Hollenberg or Brad Nessler/Dino Gaudio or Sean Farnham/Shannon Spake (Tuesday SEC)
  3. Jason Benetti/Tim Welsh (Wednesday ACC)
  4. Clay Matvick/Tim Welsh (Wednesday Big 12)
  5. Beth Mowins/Jon Crispin (Wednesday Pac-12)
  6. Roxy Bernstein/Jarron Collins/Corey Williams (Thursday WCC)
  7. Doug Sherman/Tim McCormick (Friday MAAC)
  8. Jim Barbar/Malcolm Huckaby (Friday Horizon)
  9. Adam Amin/Brooke Weisbrod (Saturday AAC)
  10. Tom Hart/Jon Sundvold (Saturday SEC)
  11. Anish Shroff/Tim Welsh (Saturday Big 12)
  12. Adam Amin/Brad Daugherty (Sunday ACC)
  13. Roxy Bernstein/Corey Williams (Sunday Pac-12)
  1. Clay Matvick or Dave Baker or Dave Neal or Dave LaMont/Joe Dean, Kara Lawson, Barry Booker or Jon Sundvold (SEC Network)
  2. Dave Armstrong or Mitch Holthus, or Brad Sham/Reid Gettys, Stephen Howard or Rich Zvosec (Big 12 Network)
  3. Anish Shroff or Adam Amin/LaPhonso Ellis and Bob Wenzel (Big East Network)
  1. Steve Physioc/Marques Johnson/Rebecca Haarlow (Pac-12)
  2. Barry Tompkins/Reggie Theus/Courtney Jones (Pac-12)
  3. Tim Brando/Mike Gminski/Jenn Hildreth (ACC)
  4. Ron Thulin/Dan Bonner/Debbie Antonelli (ACC)
  5. Bob Rathbun/Larry Conley (SEC)
  6. Rich Waltz/Mark Wise (SEC)
  1. Steve Martin/Dan Bonner
  2. Tim Brando/Mike Gminski
  3. Tim Brant/Cory Alexander
  1. Kevin Calabro/Don MacLean
  2. Ted Robinson/Ernie Kent
  3. Roxy Bernstein/Lenny Wilkens
  4. JB Long/Detlef Schrempf
  5. Rich Cellini/Brevin Knight
  6. Mark Rogondino/Lamar Hurd
  7. Paul Sunderland/Dan Belluomini
  8. Jim Watson/Joe Cravens
  1. Steve Schlager/Blaine Fowler (MWC)
  2. Paul Burmeister/Stan Van Gundy (MWC)
  3. Dave Strader/Dave Kaplan (Atlantic 10)
  4. Todd Harris/Ronny Thompson (CAA)
  5. Randy Moss/Dalen Cluff (Ivy League)
  1. Dave McCann or Spencer Linton/Blaine Fowler or David Nixon/Spencer Linton (BYU and WCC Tournament)
  2. Lad Panis/Dave Porter (BYU-Hawaii)

Famous calls or catchphrases

References

  1. ↑ American Sportscasters Online: Sportscasting Firsts
  2. ↑ 1940 College Basketball Recap on Infoplease
  3. ↑ The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Prepared For Life
  4. ↑ Sandomir, Richard (January 31, 1992). "TV SPORTS; Syndicator Gives ABC Easy Fast Break on Profit". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  5. ↑ Dick Vitale's love for college basketball is genuine 03/04/02
  6. ↑ Vecsey, George (March 5, 1995). "Sports of The Times; The March Madness Has Already Begun". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  7. ↑ Lapointe, Joe (March 15, 1991). "COLLEGE BASKETBALL: N.C.A.A. TOURNAMENT; Tip-Offs as Daytime Drama on CBS". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  8. ↑ http://ssreporters.wordpress.com/2012/03/11/2012-cbsturner-march-madness-commentator-pairings/
  9. ↑ http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2012/11/espn-2012-13-mens-college-basketball-commentators/
  10. ↑ http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2012/11/espn-2012-13-mens-college-basketball-commentators/
  11. ↑ http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2012/11/espn-2012-13-mens-college-basketball-commentators/
  12. ↑ http://www.raycomsports.com/about-us/broadcaster-bios/
  13. ↑ http://blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports/2012/10/30/schrempf-calabro-part-of-pac-12-network-hoops-broadcast-team/

External links